Historically, television services have been comprised of analog broadcast audio and video signals. Cable television systems now receive broadcasts and retransmit them with other programming to subscribers over land-line networks, typically comprising fiber optic cable and/or coaxial cable. With the recent advent of digital transmission technology, cable television systems are now capable of providing much more than the traditional analog broadcast video. In addition, two-way and advanced one-way communications between a subscriber and a cable system headend are now possible.
In implementing enhanced programming, the home communication terminal (“HCT”), otherwise known as the settop box, has become an important computing device for accessing video services and navigating a subscriber through a maze of services available. In addition to supporting traditional analog broadcast video and functionality, digital HCTs (or “DHCTs”) now also support an increasing number of services which are not analog, but rather digital; are not basic broadcast, but rather two-way communication such as video-on-demand; and are not basic video, such as e-mail or web browsers. These are all in addition to the host of other television services which are increasingly being demanded by consumers, examples of which include audio and audio/visual programming, advance navigation controls, impulse pay-per-view technology, and on-line commerce. In addition to the interactive services, the increased bandwidth available through a digital television system has made it possible for a subscriber to have access to hundreds, or even thousands, of channels and/or services. Thus, in order to provide these more powerful and complex features, the simple conventional channel abstractions need to be extended beyond those which have traditionally been provided.
Each HCT and DHCT (collectively hereinafter “DHCT”) are typically connected to a cable or satellite television network. The DHCTs generally include hardware and software necessary to provide the functionality of the digital television system at the client's site. Preferably, some of the software executed by a DHCT is downloaded and/or updated via the cable television network. Each DHCT typically includes a processor, a communication component and memory, and is connected to a television or other display device, such as a personal computer. While many conventional DHCTs are stand-alone devices that are externally connected to a television, a DHCT and/or its functionality may be integrated into a television or personal computer, as will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art.
As more and more services and applications are provided, cable television systems are providing television program information to the DHCT so that the subscriber can view the program information on the DHCT display such as the television. This program information has traditionally been organized for presentation purposes into a program guide format that presents the program information by time and channel only. The program guide can, for instance, automatically scroll the available television channels to present the program information such as name and title, by time.
Many cable system operators include one or more dedicated channels that scroll through the channel list displaying the programs that not only are currently on, but also are scheduled to be on in the future. These types of passive displays do not rely on a terminal for presentation of the programming data and also lack the interactive functionality of permitting a subscriber to scroll to a desired channel for a desired time. For example, the subscriber typically must view the programming information as it scrolls on the display and wait for either the desired channel and/or the desired time to search for the program that may be available for viewing.
With the advent of program guide “browsers” for use in cable television systems, viewers (also referred to as “subscribers” or “users”) can literally scan program information by time and channel while watching the tuned channel. In analog systems that offer a limited number of cable television channels, these browsers enable the viewer to easily scan available programs one-by-one in order of channel number. However, many digital systems can provide hundreds or even thousands of channels. In such systems, scanning program information by channel numbers sequentially can require many keystrokes by the viewer and can consume tremendous amounts of time. Additionally, locating a particular television program can be quite tedious if the viewer does not already know the name or number of the channel on which the television program will be showing. Traditional program guides have also typically been little more than grids with the channel time and number presented on x and y axes respectively. As a result, there is a need for interactive program guides that flexibly provide applications to enable viewers to easily and efficiently locate television program information that they are seeking.